Page 76 of The Souls We Claim
My heart skips a beat as warmth seeps through me. “Can you tell me where you were tonight?”
Jax reaches for my face with a wrinkled finger and strokes my cheek. “I was looking for information about my brother.”
“Did you find any?”
“I did. I now know his real name. It’s not Bradley Collins. It’s Daryll West. It’ll make him easier to find.”
“Are you going to kill him?”
“I’m going to do what I have to do. There are some things you shouldn’t know. Club business is just that. Club. Business. I won’t be able to tell you everything you might want to know.”
“I’m strangely okay with that.”
“Good.”
“Is it going to be dangerous?”
Jax sighs before splashing a handful of water over his face. “No more dangerous than sitting here waiting for him to come for us.”
I swallow as I nod. “Then I trust you to do whatever it takes to keep us safe. Let’s get you dry.”
I hand him a towel to wrap around himself, but I take a second one and dry off the exposed skin. As I do, Jax braids his hair, pulls an elastic off his wrist, and ties it off.
“Come to bed,” I say finally and take his hand, but he tugs me to him.
“A man could get used to this,” he says, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
And as I melt into him, I think a woman could too.
23
HALO
“What are we doing here?” Arianne asks two days later as I park up outside the hotel Gwen works at down by the shore.
“It’s a surprise.” I got inspired, overhearing Gwen talking to Clutch about how few people are hanging out by the pool at her hotel this summer.
“Should I be nervous?” she asks.
“No. It’s all good, I promise. Let’s head inside.”
“Whose truck is this?” she asks as we step out and I grab Lola from her seat in the back.
“Mine needed an engine tuning, so I borrowed Switch’s.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“Yeah,” I say. Although the truth of it is, I don’t want my truck parked outside a hotel, even if it is for just one night. No point drawing attention to where I am. Switch agreed to let me swap for the night as a precaution.
“I know it sounds silly, but it’s been a long time since someone organized a surprise date for me.”
The worddatemakes me feel a bit nervous. It’s something I never really thought about doing. But here I am, trying my best to make a woman I didn’t want to fall for happy.
“Like I said, your ex is a cunt.” We just came from the club’s lawyer’s office. She just filed for divorce and her ex will be served soon.
“This is too fancy,” she whispers as we step inside the hotel. There’s a lot of cool white marble and a giant vase with a thousand flowers in it on the reception desk.
She looks pretty in her sundress, Lollipop looks cute in hers, and I’m not wearing my cut. Which feels weird as fuck, but I didn’t want us getting kicked out of this place before we’ve even checked in.
